2013 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Roundup: March 13-15, 2013

Air21
continued to roll while Talk N Text and San Mig Coffee both got back on the
winning track in the past two playdates of the 2013 PBA Commish Cup. All three
teams, together with the Meralco Bolts, are locked right in the middle of the
standings and are still in the thick of the fight for coveted quarterfinal
spots.

In
Wednesday’s first game the Bolts beat the Energy Cola, 112-104 as Eric Dawson's
streak of double-doubles continued with his second 20-20 production. He could
still improve his FG shooting (48%), and he could DEFINITELY improve his FT
shooting (30%), but he has proven to be one of the most solid imports so far.
Another that went really well for Meralco was the whuuuuuuuut?! play of Chris Ross. He put up 17 points, 11 assists,
and 4 steals while shooting 63% from the 2-point area and committing just 1
turnover. Apparently, efficiency is now spelled R-O-S-S.

Barako
actually played well in this game, but their defense had two main hiccups -- it
allowed the Bolts to hit 44% of their threes, and it only forced SIX Meralco
turnovers. Just not good enough.

In the
second game, Talk N Text defeated Rain or Shine, 86-76, as two guys who have
been struggling in the conference stepped up. Larry Fonacier and Donnel Harvey
broke out in this game, combining for 40 points to lead the Texters to their
second straight win and fourth overall. Norman Black’s trademark defense also
stymied the Painters. TNT held ROS to a single field goal in the final 6 minutes.
The Texters outscored the Painters, 14-6, in that stretch. Time to fear TNT
again.

One bright
spot for Rain or Shine was the tallest player in PBA history putting up 25
points. Alas, Bruno Sundov’s remarkable output was all in vain. Also, too bad coach
Yeng Guiao wasn't around to fire his team up when they needed it the most.

In Fridays
first encounter, San Mig Coffee triumphed over Meralco, 76-71. This time, Eric
Dawson was pretty much outplayed by Denzel Bowles. Monster Bowles shot 50% from
the field and 9-of-11 from the line to finish with 23 points on top of 16
rebounds. Dawson, meanwhile, shot just 33% from the floor and 44% from the
stripe. One red flag for SMC, however, is the inefficiency of rookie Alex Mallari.
Coach Tim Cone has a lot of faith in the kid, but is that faith misplaced?
Mallari continues to eat up into the minutes of starter Mark Barroca, but his
numbers aren't much better. Mallari missed all his attempts from three while
turning the ball over thrice against only 2 assists.

On the other
end of the floor, Chris Ross continued to blossom in his new leadership role
with the Bolts, recording a second straight triple-double. The Marshall
University alum recorded a triple 10 -- points, rebounds, and assists -- but
even those stats weren't enough to lift Meralco to a win.

In the
Friday nightcap, Air21 won over pace-setting Alaska, 74-68. Michael Dunigan
continued to sizzle, helping the Express win back-to-back for the first time
this season. He shot 60% from the field and 13-of-15 from the line to go along
with 14 rebounds and FIVE BLOCKS. Sure, he turned the ball over five times, but
why be nit-picky, right? What’s exciting for coach Franz Pumaren is that it
seems like his team has learned from its bitter crunch time collapses. Bitoy
Omolon hit a big three with under 2 minutes to go to spark the decisive
finishing kick that sent the Express to their third win in 8 games.

Meanwhile,
coach Luigi Trillo will have to tweak his defense because it just wasn't up to
snuff in this game, giving up THIRTY-TWO free throws to Air21. The Express made
6 more free throws than Alaska. And what was the point-differential in the
final score? Yep. 6 points.

Game Recaps:

MERALCO BOLTS over BARAKO
BULL ENERGY COLA, 112-104

Wingmen
Sunday Salvacion and Mac Cardona have had their moments playing hero for the
Meralco Bolts in previous games.

On Wednesday
night, it was the turn of another wingman, Ronjay Buenafe, to shine.

Buenafe
unloaded all 19 of his points in the fourth period as the Bolts outlasted the
Barako Bull Energy Colas, 112-104, in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the
SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Known as a
defensive unit, the Bolts unveiled a different facet of their match against the
Energy Colas, scoring 34 points in the fourth quarter.

Buenafe
waxed hottest, going 3-of-4 form beyond the arc in the last 12 minutes of play.

“It’s great
that offense has been added to our arsenal. We were preparing ourselves
defensively,” said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio. “It’s great to see players
waking up after a long sleep and it’s good to see Ronjay heeding the call.”

With Buenafe
catching fire, the Bolts picked up their third straight win and improved their
win-loss record to 4-3.

Meralco’s
win spoiled a big game from Barako Bull import Evan Brock, who had a PBA
career-high 37 points. The Enegry Colas couldn’t get the usual explosive game
from Josh Urbiztondo, who scored only four points on 2-for-10 shooting.

The Enegry
Colas suffered their fourth straight loss and fell to seventh place in the
standings with a 3-5 record.

“Today, we
had a very good game plan, guarding their three-pointers. We didn’t allow
Urbiztondo to take over the game and Brock got tired towards the end. It’s a
great relief for us. We had our guns blazing in the fourth quarter,” added
Gregorio, whose tallied its highest total of the tournament.

After losing
back-to-back games, the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters have picked up two
straight wins to reaffirm their title aspirations in the PBA Commissioner’s
Cup.

Their big
guns rediscovered their form on Wednesday night, surviving a Rain or Shine
Elasto Painters squad in a defensive struggle on the way to winning, 86-76, at
the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Larry
Fonacier and Jayson Castro carried Talk ‘N Text in their team’s return bout
against their finals nemesis last conference.

Fonacier had
eight of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, while Castro added 11 points and
five assists. The Best Player of the Philippine Cup came up with a dagger
jumper at the 2:21 mark of the final quarter that gave the Tropang Texters an
83-73 lead.

Donnel
Harvey’s three-pointer, which gave the Tropang Texters an 86-73 lead, proved to
be the final blow, enough to snap the Elasto Painters’ five-game winning
streak.

The Elasto
Painters played minus coach Yeng Guiao, who was in the United States to attend
to personal matters. The fiery coach will return Thursday and will be present
in the team’s next game Saturday against Petron.

For Talk ‘N
Text coach Norman Black, defense was instrumental in his team’s second straight
win.

“We held
their field goal percentage down and we played better defensively,” said Black,
whose team forced the Elasto Painters to below 35 percent shooting from the
field (29-of-83).

The Elasto
Painters were led by Bruno Sundov’s 25 points and eight rebounds, but no other
Rain or Shine player finished in double figures.

The Tropang
Texters improved their win-loss record to 4-3. The Elasto Painters lost only
for the second time in seven matches, and fell into a tie with the Petron Blaze
Boosters for second to third places with identical 5-2 cards.

The Mixers
held the Bolts, who had won three straight games heading into the match, to
just 5-of-22 shooting in the fourth quarter.

With their
defense humming, the Mixers relied on Denzel Bowles on the offensive side late
in the game. The reigning Best Import of the Commissioner’s Cup scored 10 of
his 23 points in the fourth period, including a clutch jumper that pushed the
Mixers’ lead to 75-71 with 2:51 left.

“He played
big in the fourth. Denzel always comes up at big times. Whenever we need a
bucket, we need a rebound, Denzel is always there to provide them,” said Cone.

That was
enough for San Mig Coffee, which prevented the Bolts from scoring the rest of
the way.

James Yap
also provided additional firepower for San Mig Coffee, scoring 19 points.

San Mig
Coffee improved its win-loss record to 4-4 while snapping the Bolts’ three-game
winning streak.

The Mixers
also spoiled a big game from Chris Ross, who had a triple-double with 10
points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Meralco
missed the contributions of Mac Cardona, who finished scoreless after missing
all eight of his attempts and struggling with four turnovers. Another top gun,
Ronjay Buenafe, was held to just two points.

The Air 21
Express have registered their first pair of back-to-back victories in the
Commissioner’s Cup.

And it came
at the expense of the No. 1 team in the league, the Alaska Aces.

The Express
squandered a 13-point third quarter lead but held on to win, 74-68, over the
Aces on Friday night at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Michael
Dunigan played solid on both ends of the court, finishing with 25 points, 14
rebounds and five blocks and practically outplayed his counterpart, Robert
Dozier in helping the Express secure their third win in eight matches.

“First
back-to-back wins for us,” said Air21 coach Franz Pumaren. “It’s good to play
here in Ynares, last time we came here, we won as well. I hope we play more
games here.”

Unlike in
their previous games where they collapsed in the endgame, the Express were able
to maintain their composure despite losing a big lead.

The Aces
were still in striking distance, 68-66, after RJ Jazul came through with a big
three-pointer off a broken play with still 2:02 left in the match.

But Bitoy
Omolon answered back with his own three-pointer to beat the 24-second shot
clock in the ensuing play , triggering a short but telling 6-2 exchange enough
to give the Express the finishing kick they needed.

“We learned
from our four heartbreaking losses,” said Pumaren. “I’d like to give credit to
my coaching staff for preparing the team well.”

The Aces
missed the services of JVee Casio, who was sidelined due to a knee injury and
the team had to make do with their remaining guards on the squad – Jazul and
Raphy Reyes.